virginia car crash lawyer

A 21-year-old man from Rustburg, Virginia, has been charged with the deaths of two Lynchburg, Virginia, siblings after allegedly striking their vehicle while driving drunk. According to WSLS 10 News, the crash occurred on the morning of July 3 last year around 3:00 a.m. along US 460 in Prince Edward County.

The brother and sister, both in their early 20s, were heading back to their home in Farmville when a vehicle driven by the suspect hit them head-on. The suspect’s vehicle was allegedly in the wrong lane of traffic with his lights off at the time of the crash.

The drunk driver was taken into custody and was indicted by a grand jury earlier this week on charges of reckless involuntary DUI manslaughter. If convicted, the man could face anywhere from two to 40 years in prison for his crimes.

According to prosecutors, the commonwealth’s attorney decided to drop regular DUI charges that were placed against the defendant in order to focus on the more serious charges of DUI manslaughter.

The man responsible for the crash remains free on bond pending a trial, which is set to begin on June 28.

The Virginia Auto Accident Lawyers with the Skolrood Law Firm ask that citizens all contribute to keeping Virginia’s highways safe by not drinking and driving. If you have been consuming alcohol, call a taxi or sober friend or family member to get you home safely instead.

Police are saying speed was a factor in a multi-vehicle accident in Franklin County, Virginia, on Monday that killed one and left several others injured. According to WDBJ 7 News, the accident happened just before 4:00 PM along the Booker T. Washington Highway, near Beechdale Road.

Investigators believe that a 17-year-old girl was behind the wheel of a vehicle going north, when she lost control due to excessive speed. The girl then over-corrected, sending the car into oncoming traffic, where it collided with a pickup truck and another vehicle before striking a nearby building. A 17-year-old boy from Franklin County who was the passenger in the front seat of the girl’s vehicle was killed in the crash. The girl and two other passengers in the backseat were injured and taken to a local hospital. The driver of the pickup truck that was involved in the crash, a 26-year-old man from Glade Hill, was also injured and taken to the hospital.

The National Library of Medicine considers speed to be a major contributing factor in the high number of fatal crashes seen in young drivers. They also suggest that the number of passengers in a vehicle can put a young driver at a higher risk for having an accident.

Texting while driving may be illegal in the state of Virginia, but in order to be pulled over for the offense, a driver has to be doing something else wrong. This may change soon though according to reports from WSLS 10 News that say a new bill recently passed through the Senate would make texting and driving a primary offense, allowing officers to pull over drivers if they are caught in the act on their phones.

Senate Bill 219 was examined on Wednesday by the Senate Transportation Committee and approved by a vote of eight to five with one voter abstaining. Also approved was legislation that would make using a cellphone a primary offense for teen drivers with provisional licenses.

Sen. George L. Barker spoke to the committee in favor of the laws pointing out that drivers who text are more than 23 times more likely to be involved in a fatal crash than those who don’t. He added that making cellphone use a primary offense would “encourage greater compliance” from drivers.

The legislation will now go before the full Senate for a vote during the next session.

The Virginia Car Accident Lawyers with the Skolrood Law Firm know that statistically using a cell phone will driving is more dangerous than driving drunk. That is why they ask for drivers to put their phones down while behind the wheel.

A 31-year-old man from Thaxton, Virginia, was killed this past Sunday in a single-vehicle car crash. According to The Roanoke Times, the accident occurred at approximately 2:15 in the morning on Virginia 1022, just north of Virginia 24.

Virginia state police reported that the man was driving a 1989 Ford Van when, for unknown reasons, he suddenly veered across the oncoming lane and off the left side of the road. The van then plummeted down an embankment before becoming entangled in a grove of trees. Troopers added that the victim was not wearing his seat belt at the time of the crash and suffered major bodily trauma. He was declared dead at the scene of the crash.

The National Safety Council says that seat belts are the most effective way to prevent crash injuries. Their data shows that seat belts saved more than 75,000 lives between 2004 and 2008. Despite the lives saved, the agency always pushes to completely eliminate the problem.

The council estimates that more than 1,600 lives could be saved and 22,000 injuries prevented if seat belt use was 90 percent in every state.

Controversy is swirling around a Danville, Virginia, car accident that left one woman dead and her sister severely injured. According to WSLS Channel 10 News, officers say the woman died of a heart attack on the way to the hospital, while her family argues she died from trauma suffered in the crash.

The accident happened on October 23 of this year just before 11:00 AM on South Main Street. The car, a 1995 Nissan Infinity driven by the woman’s sister and carrying two other teenage passengers, was rear-ended at full speed by a 2011 Toyota Tacoma pickup truck. The crash caused thousands of dollars in damage to both vehicles and left the two women with several injuries. The driver suffered a cut to her head and an injured leg, while her sister was left with extreme chest pain.

Family members say the woman was unresponsive in the ambulance and have a death certificate showing the cause of death as blunt force trauma to the heart, but investigators claim the woman died of a heart attack three hours after arriving at the hospital.

Authorities say their investigation will be completed when results arrive back from the State Medical Examiner’s Office.

A woman from Woodbridge, Virginia, was killed in a two-vehicle crash in Silver Spring, Maryland, early on the morning of Sunday, September 25.

The crash occurred at 4:36 a.m. at the intersection of Tech Road and Route 29, reports The Washington Post, when a 2004 BMW 325i that was facing a flashing red signal tried to proceed through the intersection but was struck by a 2009 Hyundai Elantra traveling through a flashing yellow light.

A 29-year-old female who was a passenger in the front passenger seat of the Hyundai died at the scene. Both drivers were taken to local hospitals, where they were treated for non-life-threatening injuries.

The driver of the Hyundai was a 26-year-old male from Bristow, Virginia, while the driver of the BMW was a 49-year-old woman from Baltimore, Maryland.

The Woodbridge Patch reports that police are still investigating the circumstances of the accident. Investigators are asking anyone who witnessed this fatal collision to contact the Montgomery County Police Collision Reconstruction Unit at 301-840-2435. Callers may remain anonymous.

Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell has introduced an online interactive database of state car crash information for use by the public. Called the Traffic Records Electronic Data System (TREDS), the Governor said last week that the system aims to compile Virginia’s car wreck data and other relevant information into one place.

The information can be accessed through the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles website, where custom reports can be created, sorting information by fatalities and injuries. In a later phase, traffic crashes may be sorted by street location, and age and gender of those injured or killed. There will, however, never be personal driver information on the site.

“Multiple agencies combined efforts to create this efficient electronic method of collecting, storing and providing access to this important government information,” McDonnell said. “Previously, this information was stored by different agencies in different formats, making it hard for citizens to access. Now any Virginian, whether a safety advocate or a concerned citizen, can easily use this portal to look up comprehensive crash statistics in their communities.”

The end goal of TREDS is to reduce the number of Virginia traffic-related fatalities. There have been 487 in VA so far this year, and there were 494 last year.

“Linking the data together in a common format is efficient and creates more comprehensive, accurate crash statistics,” said DMV commissioner Richard Holcomb. “TREDS gives us a 360-degree view of crashes and their causes, which can aid in preventing future traffic fatalities.”

A 53-year-old woman died and a 43-year-old man was injured in a car crash on Route 15 in Virginia’s Loudon County on Wednesday, August 31.

The accident occurred just before 6:20 a.m. when a 2008 Chevy pickup truck crossed into the southbound lane of Route 15 and struck a Ford van before slamming head-on into a 1997 Nissan pickup truck. The Chevrolet’s driver, who was not wearing a seatbelt, died at the scene. She was from Ashburn, Virginia.

Meanwhile the Nissan’s driver—a Brunswick, Maryland, man—had to be life-flighted to a nearby hospital where he is fighting life-threating injuries. The driver of the Ford was not hurt. Both drivers were wearing seatbelts.

WILA.com reports that just prior to the crash a Virginia State Trooper received information about a pickup driving erratically on Route 15 North, and he went searching for the truck. Just as he was coming upon the truck in question, he saw it cross into the southbound lane, causing the fatal crash.

The crash closed down Route 15 for three hours, reopening at 9:34 a.m.